In the continuing restructuring of management at AT&T’s WarnerMedia, top distribution executives Sofia Chang and Rich Warren are leaving the company.
In a memo to staff Thursday, Tony Goncalves, named head of commercial operations in August, said he was creating a new WarnerMedia Sales and Distribution structure.
“The strategic thought behind the creation of our Sales and Distribution team is that by managing our revenue generating businesses as a portfolio we can better maximize our profitability,” Goncalves said. "In our future structure, our sales and account management teams will be organized by account and will represent our full breadth of products. We will have four dedicated Sales teams.”
The four teams will be led by:
Jennifer Mirgorod was appointed head of sales and account management for the all MVPD, vMVPD, retail, hotel, business and airline accounts.
Jim Wuthrich will lead product marketing and planning for the home entertainment business in addition to overseeing content licensing.
An executive still to be named will head sales and account management for global platforms such as Amazon, Apple and Google. Until the position is filled, it will be handled by Wuthrich.
WarnerMedia announced earlier this month that Jean-Paul Colaco, who worked with WarnerMedia Jason Kilar at Hulu, will be head of ad sales for the company.
Also part of the sales and distribution team are Scott Miller, head of business and legal affairs, Sean Kisker, who will lead strategy, business planning and business development and Sara Prooth, head of business operations.
Chang and Warren were named president of WarnerMedia Distribution in September 2019 as the company combined distribution for the Turner networks, HBO, Cinemax and HBO Max.
Chang had been with HBO since 2000.
In his memo, Goncalves said “Sofia touched and grew almost every aspect of our business over her 20-year career here. She pioneered HBO’s entry into digital distribution, securing deals with Amazon, Hulu, Apple and others. Simultaneously, she oversaw global content licensing and the transactional business for the premium service.”
Warren had been with Turner for two decades, rising to president of content distribution before last year’s promotion..
“Rich, also a 20-year veteran of the company, helped drive Turner to one of the most profitable and successful entertainment companies," Goncalves noted. “Mastering the art of distribution deals, he helped turn CNN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and all the Turner networks into widely available household brands. Over his tenure, as the business evolved, Rich brilliantly mastered linear, SVOD and direct-to-consumer deal making.”
